Shizuru vs Akane
by Abicion
Summary: with predictable results.


The sound of metal weapons clashing against one another echoed through the night air surrounding the campus of Fuuka Academy. A few minutes earlier, Akane and Kazuya were having a peaceful moment alone before being suddenly ambushed Shizuru and her monstrous Child, Kiyohime. In defense, Akane had summoned Hari, and the two beasts quickly engaged in intense combat. Shizuru was now using the hilt of her naginata Element to block an attack from Akane's tonfa as Akane desperately pleaded to end the fight.

"Why don't you just leave us alone, Shizuru? You know Nagi's been tricking us this entire time! He's probably just lying about what will happen if we don't fight!"

Shizuru answered Akane with a slightly sinister complexion as she held her defensive stance.

"You're a HiME, Akane. It's your destiny to be defeated so Natsuki can win the power of the HiME Star. I don't particularly care about the fate of the world either way."

Akane pushed her attack forward with all of her strength.

"But if you do that, you'll kill Kazu!"

Shizuru's eyes slowly glanced toward Kazuya and saw he was nervously watching the two girls fight from the edge of Fuuka Academy's entrance way. When her focus returned to Akane, Shizuru replied in the same cold voice as before.

"I see you care deeply about that boy."

Shizuru's eyes now looked over Akane's shoulder, and a wide grin formed across her face.

"Too bad you're not as attentive to your Child."

Akane's desperate expression turned to one of puzzlement at these words. With her tonfa still locked against Shizuru's naginata, Akane looked over her shoulder to see several of Kiyohime's serpent-like heads were tangled around Hari, and one had just begun to bite the armored tiger on the back of his neck. Kiyohime aggressively injected a highly acidic venom into its prey, and Hari's painful roars soon subsided into sickening gurgling sounds. Kiyohime then released its hold and allowed Hari to clumsily stumble forward. The dying tiger vomited a glowing bright green liquid that quickly evaporated from the ground, then collapsed lifelessly in defeat. His normally shining yellow armor turned to a dull gray color as his carcass disappeared into a swarm of green sparkles that briefly lit Fuuka Academy's darkened entrance.

Akane watched these events transpire with a look of horror. With Hari's death, Akane's tonfa abruptly disappeared from her hands and she turned back to her attacker.

"Shizuru, how could you?"

Shizuru only replied in a stern voice.

"I told you I wouldn't back down, Akane. Now, are you going to keep arguing with me, or would you rather make the best of the last precious seconds you have with the person you care about the most?"

Akane's eyes suddenly began to well with tears as Shizuru questioned her. With nothing else to say to the older girl, Akane turned to Kazuya and quickly ran to his side. She reached him just as he grabbed his chest in pain and began collapsing to the ground. Akane fell to her knees and gently guided her dying lover to the paved entrance way in her arms. As Kazuya continued to groan in agony, Akane's moist eyes were now openly sobbing.

"Kazu! Please forgive me!"

Amidst his struggled breaths, Kazuya looked up toward Akane and weakly replied.

"It's not your fault, Akane…"

Kazuya's eyes began to close as his voice became softer. Despite fearing his oncoming death, he took comfort in understanding why he was dying. He offered his protector an uneasy smile as he continued to speak.

"I'm just happy… I was this important to you…"

In a last spark of happiness, Akane leaned downward as Kazuya struggled to lift his lips toward hers. The lovers shared Kazuya's final breath together in a passionate kiss, and the two remained in this embrace when Kazuya's arms dangled lifelessly to the ground. The kiss only ended when Kazuya's body dissolved into the same display of sparkling green particles as Hari and disappeared into the air.

When the last twinkling flecks of Kazuya left Akane's arms, she lifted her hands to her face and loudly wailed into her palms. When her mournful cries ended, she lowered her hands to the ground and sat motionlessly on her knees.

The victorious HiME stepped forward from where she had been watching, then knelt to Fuuka Academy's entrance path in front of Akane as she allowed her polearm to rest on the paved ground. When Shizuru was face to face with her powerless adversary, she saw Akane's soft amber eyes now lacked the playful twinkle she and the other Fuuka students were always accustomed to seeing. In addition to this, Akane now seemed to be void of all energy, and barely gathered the willpower to say her deceased beloved's name as she vacantly stared forward.

"Ka… zu…"

Shizuru shook her head in slight sympathy.

"Poor Akane. It isn't fair for such a sweet girl to suffer like this…"

She paused for a moment to look toward the full moon and the glowing HiME star. A satisfied smirk crossed her lips when she noted the alien satellite had grown significantly thanks to Akane's contribution.

"…But those are the rules."

Akane remained oblivious to Shizuru's words as she continued to softly speak to the young lover she had lost in her defeat.

"I… miss… you…"

Shizuru looked toward Akane again. She slowly reached to the ground and lifted her naginata back into one hand as she smiled mischievously.

"Don't worry, Akane. Since you've always been kind to Natsuki and let me defeat you so easily, you deserve special treatment."

As Akane remained silent and continued to stare forward, Shizuru pointed the blade of her weapon to the stationary girl's throat. Shizuru then lowered the tip of the blade to lightly prod the red ribbon of Akane's school uniform. She laughed softly as her weapon traced down the center of the orange jacket of Akane's uniform, and finally spoke again when the blade stopped at Akane's abdomen.

"I'm going to make sure your suffering won't last for long."

Shizuru suddenly grabbed Akane's shoulder with her free hand to hold the younger girl steadily in place, then forcefully plunged the end of the naginata into Akane's stomach. Akane's silence was interrupted when she suddenly gasped. She then groaned in agony and cried tears of pain as Shizuru continued to twist the blade at its hilt, bringing additional untold damage to her victim's internal organs.

Even in her mind's weakened state, Akane realized she was dying. A thin trickle of blood fell from the corner of the defeated HiME's mouth, and her lips curled into a cheerful smile. Akane lifted her head to look into the dark sky as her empty eyes slowly closed.

"Kazu… I'm coming…"

Shizuru smirked at Akane's obvious bliss and responded to her final words.

"Sweet dreams, Akane."

Shizuru removed the bloodied naginata from Akane's stomach when the younger girl slumped over her shoulder. Shizuru gently laid Akane on her side on Fuuka Academy's entrance path before rising back to her feet. She shook Akane's blood off of her weapon by quickly swinging it once to the side, then casually boarded one of Kiyohime's heads and silently rode the beast to her next target.

When Akane's body was found by horrified school attendants the next morning, her face was still frozen in a gentle smile. After she made the news as an apparent victim of a brutal unsolved murder, those involved realized another HiME had been defeated and the festival was entering its final stages.


End file.
